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The fourth-seeded Emory women’s tennis team has advanced to
the championship match of the NCAA Division III Women’s
Tennis Championships following an intense 5-4 win over top-ranked
Amherst in the semifinals on Wednesday. The victory was the fifth
straight for the Eagles and raised their overall record to 22-5
while the Lord Jeffs saw a nine-match win streak come to an end
while closing out the year with a 20-3 ledger. Serving as the
host of the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals is Mary Washington
University in Fredericksburg, Va.
After dropping the first doubles point of the match at the No. 3
position, the Eagles regrouped to earn the next two points to take
a 2-1 margin heading into singles. The No. 1 tandem of Zahra
Dawson and Lorne McManigle put Emory’s initial point up with
their 8-3 victory over Brittany Berkes and Laura Danzig. The
Eagles’ No. 2 duo of Sabra Rogers and Tshema Nash then gave
the Eagles the lead following a tightly contested 9-7 triumph over
Jill Wexler and Natasha Brown, their 20th win of the
season in 24 decisions.
Emory got off to a slow start in singles as Amherst won the opening
set in five of the six matches. Junior Lorne McManigle was
the lone Eagle to win her first set and she used that momentum in
claiming a 6-4, 6-1 decision over Danzing at the No. 2 spot that
boosted Emory’s lead to 3-1. However, the Lord Jeffs
fought their way back with a straight-set win at No. 6 and a
three-set victory at No. 1 to deadlock the affair at 3-3.
Senior Tshema Nash bounced back from an opening-set defeat to come
away with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 4 against Wexler that upped
Emory’s lead to 4-3. Amherst countered when Carlissa
King posted a three-set win of her own at the No. 2 slot that made
the match score 4-4. The outcome of the match and the berth
in the finals came down to No. 5 singles where Emory junior Lindsay
Reidenbach ran her record to 21-5 on the year with an impressive
4-6, 6-4, 6-3 come-from-behind win against Natasha Brown.
Emory will play the winner of the University of Chicago vs.
Williams match for the national crown on Thursday at 1:00
p.m. The Eagles will be gunning for the program’s sixth
national title and fifth under head coach Amy Bryant.
Emory’s last national championship in women’s tennis
came in 2006.